Total television upfront prime-time advertising revenue for broadcast and cable networks is predicted to drop 6% to $18.1 billion from the $19.3 billion tally in 2013. While broadcast networks have seen steady declines for the last two upfront selling periods, this season will be the first decline for cable since the 2009 upfront. ...Read the whole story

Comcast's NBCUniversal unit barely pulled in the same revenues as a year ago for its second-quarter results -- partly due to its lower-performing filmed entertainment unit. NBCUniversal's cable, broadcast and theme parks businesses, however, earned strong results in the period. ...Read the whole story

Indexeus, a new search engine, turns the tables on hackers by exposing their exploits. The search engine crawls and indexes mostly Web sites that list data breach information posted by hackers. ...Read the whole story

When is native advertising a smart strategy for reaching online news readers? For advertisers, it's critical that their message be highly relevant to audiences. Publishers would be wise to steer clear of less respected brand partners, per new research ...Read the whole story

LOS ANGELES -- While TV is "still relevant" and continues to represent an important reach medium for national marketers, it is no longer sufficient for influencing consumers -- especially the kind of 20- and 30-somethings that American Honda Motor Co. is looking to reach, Assistant Vice President-Marketing Tom Peyton asserted during a keynote opening OMMA Premium here this morning. In its place, Peyton said, Honda is turning to music -- both live events and a multitude of digital distribution channels (even its own cars) -- to pick up the slack. "It's a big money play. It's a bold play," Peyton ... ...Read the whole story

Business software giant SAP on Tuesday said it has consolidated its global account for marketing services with Omnicom Group. SAP had used WPP for ad duties and other marketing chores. Omnicom shops that will handle the business include BBDO, RAPP, PHD, Critical Mass, FleishmanHillard, Siegel + Gale, GMR, and eg+ Worldwide. Other shops within the holding company will likely take on SAP duties over time, an Omnicom rep said. ...Read the whole story

Silo-like thinking can be the bane of any form of marketing that requires the integration of multiple disciplines, but when it comes to social marketing campaigns, where different areas of expertise -- social community management, content creation, brand management, etc. -- must come together as a unified whole in or near real-time, it can be devastating. In a move to get the entire social marketing organization on the same page, Expion today will unveil a new version of its social relationship and content marketing platform that seeks to bring the pieces together in a unified way. ...Read the whole story

Active International, an independent barter media shop, on Monday announced the appointment of Alan Izenman as chief digital officer, a new position at the company. He will be responsible for building and implementing new technologies at the firm. ...Read the whole story

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Brace yourself, as we enter the 2014 mid-term election cycle, for the larger impact political advertising will have on local media markets. Now that those high-profile court cases have removed many restrictions on spending, there will ...More